Politics

• Monday, May 11th 2009 - 09:32 UTC

  Kirchners desperate bid to retain power in mid term election

  

  Former Argentine President Nestor Kirchner will run for a seat in Congress in a bid to bolster the ruling party in June 28 mid-term elections. The ballot is seen as referendum on the government of current president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and her husband, Nestor Kirchner.

• Monday, May 11th 2009 - 08:41 UTC

  Uruguayan president visit to Paraguay to talk Mercosur and energy

  

  Uruguayan president Tabare Vazquez is scheduled to visit Paraguay this week to participate in a new anniversary of the country’s independence and hold private talks with President Fernando Lugo.

• Monday, May 11th 2009 - 07:55 UTC

  Independent audit body to audit British Parliament expenses

  

  Plans for an independent auditing body to validate Britain Members of Parliament expenses claims are expected to be approved on Monday, following weeks of damaging stories. Senior Labour MP Sir Stuart Bell said MPs would be asked to approve the body, made up entirely of independent people.

• Monday, May 11th 2009 - 07:48 UTC

  British MP’s expenses scandal: call for an early election

  

  A former speaker from the British House of Commons said that Parliament should be dissolved if the expenses scandal continues to rumble on. Tory Lord Naseby said the status of Parliament had been brought “right down into the pits” and Gordon Brown could be forced to call a general election as a result.

• Monday, May 11th 2009 - 07:42 UTC

  North Korean Foreign Affairs minister arrives in Brazil

  

  North Korea’s Foreign Affairs minister Pak Ui-Chun arrived Sunday in Brazil to meet with his counterpart Celso Amorim, according to a release from the Brazilian ministry. Brazil and North Korea established formal diplomatic relation in 2001.

• Saturday, May 9th 2009 - 07:44 UTC

  Prestigious Hispanic civil rights activist next US ambassador in Argentina

  

  The President Barack Obama administration has named a prestigious civil rights activist of Hispanic-Mexican origin as the next US ambassador in Argentina. Vilma Socorro Martinez, 66, will replace Ambassador Earl Anthony Wayne who has held the job for three and a half years.

• Saturday, May 9th 2009 - 07:29 UTC

  Brazilian Senate leader reiterates opposition to Venezuela in Mercosur

  

  Former Brazilian president Jose Sarney and currently head of the federal Senate, reiterated his opposition to Venezuela’s incorporation to Mercosur because of differences over interpretations of democratic governance with the regime of President Hugo Chavez.

• Friday, May 8th 2009 - 11:03 UTC

  Dismal Ilex Season in Falklands; All Jiggers Leave Zone

  

  Weekly Penguin News Update. Headlines: Fun trials create new challenges; Dismal Ilex season; Firearm stolen from vehicle at Goose Green; BFBS 3 will be available to Falkland’s viewer; Swine flu pandemic is less likely.

• Friday, May 8th 2009 - 10:59 UTC

  Lula da Silva and Lugo suspend signing of bilateral agreements

  

  Visiting Paraguayan president Fernando Lugo and his counterpart host Brazil’s Lula da Silva ended Thursday evening their first private meeting with out any statements or having signed several bilateral agreements which were ready to be stamped.

• Friday, May 8th 2009 - 10:26 UTC

  Chavez agrees to pay 1.97 billion USD for nationalized steelmaker

  

  Ternium, Latin America’s second- largest steelmaker, agreed to sell its Sidor unit to the Venezuelan government for 1.97 billion US dollars, ending a yearlong price dispute. The government holding company, Corp. Venezolana de Guayana, or CVG, paid 400 million in cash today for Ternium’s 59.7% stake in Sidor, the Luxembourg-based company said Thursday in a statement. CVG said it will pay the rest in two separate payments.